Lexington, Ky. – July 27, 2018 – Equitation competition at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show kicked off Friday afternoon in the Stonelea Ring with the ASPCA Maclay where Beata Buckley bested a class of 24 entries aboard Daniel Ighani’s Northface to capture the win as she gears up for her last year of eligibility in the equitation finals this fall.
The first round tested riders over fences with two tight rollbacks and a double combination where the top 12 horse-and-rider combinations returned to the second round for a flat phase. Buckley and the 9-year-old Holsteiner gelding proved flawless after two phases to capture the victory while James Faloni and Acido 7 were awarded the second place ribbon and Alivia Kohus claimed third with Cristallo’s Carlchen P.
Buckley is competing her main equitation mount, Rico, in two other classes and has already qualified to secure her spot for the Maclay Regional Championship in September, so she opted to use her younger, hunter horse, Northface, for the Maclay. The class was the perfect opportunity for Buckley to prepare as the Maclay Regionals will also be held at the Kentucky Horse Park during the Kentucky National Horse Show. Competing there against qualified riders from Region 4, Buckley will vie for a spot in the renowned ASPCA Maclay Championships at the National Horse Show, held in the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena.
Equitation competition will continue Saturday, July 27, in the Walnut Arena with the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search 2* starting at 8 a.m. Hunter competition will highlight the USHJA National Hunter Derby on Sunday, July 29, in the Stonelea Ring.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Beata Buckley – ASPCA Maclay winner
On Northface:
“He is actually my hunter – I have an equitation horse and I’m doing him in two other classes later, so we decided that I would do [Northface] in the Maclay because I have already qualified [for Regionals]. I got him from Ken Smith at Ashland Farms as an equitation horse and I’ve had him for about a year and a half now. Northface has never been to [equitation] finals before so we were looking for a horse with a little more finals experience, so I switched most of my equitation classes to Rico. I’ve been doing Northface in the international derbies and the hunters, but I he’s a great equitation horse, he’s amazing. He’s a lot a younger than Rico, so in the year I’ve had him he’s matured a lot, but he gets very distracted when you’re riding. Northface is great, he just doesn’t have as much experience, so we are kind of learning together. He’s grown up now and matured for sure.”
On her plan:
“It’s my last junior year so my goal was [equitation] finals. I will be doing the [Maclay] Regionals in Kentucky. I’m in Minnesota, so we’re switching regions for regionals so this was kind of like my confidence class to place myself and everyone else here. Because [Northface] is a hunter and I haven’t ridden him in the equitation for a while, my first jump was kind of like a confidence ride to get him over it. He jumps really big, so I was trying to get him to jump more like an equitation horse and it needs to be a little more forward. The only thing I was a little worried about was my last two jumps [going away from the ingate] because he’s really slow and once he feels like he’s done he will just walk, so I really galloped him past the ingate. He jumped the last jump pretty big.”
On Kentucky:
“We’re here for four weeks and the horses will get the week off during Pony Finals. We were here in May and June and now we’re for four weeks, so we love Kentucky. I ride with Renee Lenkart at Wild Oak Farm and we’re here almost every summer. It’s awesome.”
RESULTS
ASPCA Maclay
Place / Horse / Rider
1. Northface / Beata Buckley
2. Acido 7 / James Faloni
3. Cristallo’s Carlchen P / Alivia Kohus
4. Revero / Isabela De Sousa
5. Tiesto / Nicolas Gamboa
6. Cooley Nothing Better B / Chloe White
7. Charleston / Olivia Darnell
8. Casino Royal / Catherine Moorehead
9. Carrilou / Sara Hearn